Breast cancer survivors who are in remission are often still worried about the breast cancer returning. To recognize a recurrence of breast cancer, it is important to understand your personal risk that cancer may return, as well as keeping an eye out for additional warning signs.

Understand Your Personal Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence

The risk of breast cancer recurrence continues even after five years of therapy. The risk of breast cancer recurrence is unique to each individual and is based in part on the type of cancer that was originally diagnosed. For example, the risk of recurrence associated with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer differs from that of estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer. In addition, certain molecular characteristics of the tumor also contribute to an individual’s risk of breast cancer recurrence.

Breast Cancer

Women are always told to be careful about Breast lumps, which is an important sign of Breast Cancer. Andrew Putnam, Director of Palliative Care Program at Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and Georgetown University says that Lump may not be the first sign of Cancer. Putnam further says that this Lump is found deep in the Breast Tissue, sometimes the surrounding tissue is dense, due to which Lump is not felt. Inflammatory Breast Cancer has other symptoms so be careful about all other signs too.

In year 2007 a research by American cancer society found that 178,480 new cases of breast cancer would be diagnosed in United States and further 62,030 cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in the coming years. However, rates of death from breast cancer will decrease and it will keep on decreasing with the increase in awareness of breast cancer.

Breast Cancer

Breast cancer develops in the breast tissues that cause the abnormal growth of breast. Most of the time breast cancer arises in women only 1% of breast cancer occurs in men. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women. About one in eight women have the life time risk of having breast cancer.

Breast is made of fats, glands and the connective tissues. It has tiny lobes that end in to the milk glands. These tiny ducts run from glands and ends at the nipple.

A new study by the group of US researchers on breast cancer has revealed that more than half of the patients who have early stages of this cancer leave the full prescribed course of hormone therapy.

In this study the automated pharmacy records of 8,769 women were analyzed, most of them were those who were having type 1, 2 or 3 hormone sensitive breast cancer and it was found out that each woman filled at least one prescription of hormone therapy each year.

While discussing about the study the leading author of the study Dr. Dawn Hershman, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Columbia University Medical Center, said in a news release from the Journal of Clinical Oncology said that “Physicians are often unaware of patient compliance, and this is becoming an increasingly important issue in cancer” and further “It’s very disturbing that patients under 40 had the highest discontinuation rates because those patients have the longest life expectancy”.

Breast Cancer

Breast canceris affected to women mainly. No one knows why some women get breast cancer, but there area number of risk factors.

The risk factors are as below:

Age: the chance of getting breast cancer rises as a woman gets older

Genes: there are genes like BRCA1 and BRCA2 that greatly increase the risk.

Personal Factor: beginning periods before age 12 or going through menopause after age 55

Other risks include over weight, using hormone replacement therapy, taking birth control pills, drinking alcohol, not having children or having your first child after the age of 35.

Symptoms of breast cancermay include lump in the breast, a change in the size or shape or discharge of nipple. Breast self exam and mammography can help find breast cancer at an early stage when it can be treatable. The treatment comprises of many stages.